United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres will pay an official visit to Vietnam from October 21 to 22 at the invitation of State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.

The two-day visit will mark the 45th anniversary of Vietnam’s accession to the UN, showing a strong message that the UN attaches importance to the Vietnam-UN partnership over the past 45 years, the UN chief was cited as saying.

Guterres, the ninth secretary-general in the UN’s history, is in his second five-year term, following the first that began on January 1, 2017.

The last time a UN secretary-general visited Vietnam was in May 2015, when Ban Ki Moon from South Korea paid a two-day visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

At last week’s meeting with Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the UN, Guterres congratulated Vietnam on being elected to the Human Rights Council for the term 2023-25 and confirmed his upcoming visit to the country.

Evaluating Vietnam as one of the indispensable members of the UN, Guterres emphasized that Vietnam has been making meaningful contributions to the UN’s mission of addressing the global challenges for the sake of peace and development around the world and will continue to do so in the future. 

The UN leader expressed his positive impression of Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, especially in the post-pandemic recovery process.

He also mentioned Vietnam’s strong commitments in responding to climate change and promised to continue supporting the nation in this area.

The UN leader’s visit will strengthen the bilateral relations and serve as a testament to Vietnam's commitments and efforts in making positive contributions to the common work of the UN, including responding to climate change and maintaining international peace and security, Ambassador Giang said.

Vietnam joined the UN on September 20, 1977.

The agency’s support for Vietnam first focused on war reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, and then on strengthening institutions, policies, social protection, health, education, and agriculture, among others.

Over the 45 years since its accession, Vietnam has achieved many milestones within the UN, including serving twice as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2008-09 and 2020-21.

On October 11, Vietnam was elected to the UN Human Rights Council again for the 2023-25 tenure after its first membership in 2014-16.

The country has also sent many military officers and field hospitals to take part in UN peacekeeping missions in the world.

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